back at it

after nearly two weeks off, I'm finally back in the game.  and I can feel it.  oy.

I didn't really mean to take almost two weeks off necessarily.  the week after the 10K I started to get sick and I was just drained of all energy.  plus my hamstring has really been bugging me.  so I hoped just taking the time to rest would help me out on all accounts.

nope, the hamstring still bugs me all the time.

but I'm back at it.

I feel very off-track in my training for the half and full marathons I've got planned.  part of me doesn't even want to do them anymore.  I just want to build up a really solid base, get the hamstring under control, and not have to have the pressure of scheduled long runs where I must build up this many miles in this amount of time, etc etc.  I just want to run and not feel bad if I don't get a workout in because I'm too tired to get out of bed in the morning.

but I'm going to stick it out.  because the marathon at the end of the year is something that I really do want to do, so hopefully the body cooperates.


so this past weekend I got back on the long run bandwagon.  well, it was only 4 miles, so not that long of a long run.  (I think I had 10 on the schedule.  eek.)  but with my hamstring the way it is I didn't want to overdo it as I'm coming off a two week hiatus.  and I was tight and felt slow, but at least I was out there.

this morning I made sure I got out there again.  it was only about 3 miles.  again, I felt tight and slow.  oh well.  I stretched and iced, but I think I might want to add foam rolling into the routine?  any thoughts on foam rolling for nagging things like hamstrings??

last week's recap

monday:  run.  around 3 miles. 

tuesday:  ride.  I did the legacy parkway ride again.  I went out for thirty minutes and then turned around and came back.  still windy. 

wednesday:  I was planning on swimming, but never did.  my body was really tired so I just used it as a rest day.

thursday:  run.  around 3 miles. 

friday:  ride.  I went with my friend, tori, up emigration canyon.  this is the first time I have ever gone all the way to the top.  so high fives all around!  I have always been scared of the last section because it gets steeper.  yeah, totally not bad at all!  so glad I did it.

saturday:  long run.  six miles.  for the first half I just felt really tight.  the second half my hamstring was what was bugging me.  I need to get my hamstrings under control! 


I wish I remembered more of the specifics of my runs, etc.  I guess I should try harder to post the day of as opposed to recapping a week later.  I feel pretty good about last week, though, since I got out there almost every day. 

my hamstring has really been bugging me yesterday and today so I purposely didn't go running this morning.  I guess it needs a little break. 

epic long run and the rest of the weekend

I actually mapped out my route, mileage and all, for last saturday's long run.  y'all should be proud of me.  I'm actually starting to get my act together again.  so I planned out a nice little six miler, no biggie. I even ran in the opposite direction I usually take, so it was quite exciting!  (though it was on a route I often go biking--hey, I knew it was pretty nice and shaded!)

so I'm not going to go into all the reasons it was epic.  or really any of them for that matter.  I will spare you all the details. but let me just say that I feel like a true runner now.  it's only taken ten years.

by the end of the run it was getting hot and my legs were getting tired.  I'm glad it was only six miles.


we also went up to lava hot springs, idaho this weekend and peter and I got a nice ride in.  I'm pretty much out of bike shape, so it kinda wiped me out a lot more than it did peter.  any hills kill me!  I bailed on riding up this one canyon pretty quickly, but I really don't feel too bad about it.  pete said that right after we turned around it starts getting really steep and you have to grind it in your granny gear.  I told him I was already grinding it in my granny gear!

I think our ride was about an hour long, and I have no idea how much distance we covered.  my bike computer is out of batteries, and pete hasn't been biking with one lately.  I'm just glad we got out there at all!

and today?  well, I let myself sleep in.  I really wanted to get to the pool this morning, but when morning came it didn't really sound like a fun idea anymore.  kate was up like three times last night/early morning so I was pretty tired.  as an athlete mama of two little ones, I've learned to be very flexible about my workouts.  if it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world.  I just can't let days and days of missed workouts go by.  it's a fine balance my energy levels ride.

last week

m - h:  nadda

f:  a 3'ish mile run?  it was the big loop around the local park.  I really need to figure out the distance on that bad boy.

s:  a 5'ish mile long run.  I should double check on mapmyrun.com.  just one moment, please.  okay, it was just 4.8 miles.  not quite what I was hoping for.  oh well.  next time I should actually map out the milage/route.

let's not even talk about this week.  yesterday I didn't work out.  and I didn't work out this morning, so it's a safe bet I won't be working out at all today.  I can get out the door if the baby wakes up around 5:30a - 6:30a to eat, but if she doesn't and I get to sleep in a little later--forgettaboutit.  and then it's just too bloody hot.

maybe I should just start setting an alarm?

again, a weekly recap

monday: the standard four mile route + core

tuesday: 45 minutes on the elliptical

wednesday: I ran around the park because for some reason I thought that might be a good idea. see, when I run around the park I don't just run around the road inside the park, I actually run around the park. the perimeter. which right now is covered in snow, if you do recall. but it was a sunny day and the snow was turning more to slush and I was kind of slipping around. not so good for the ankle or the hamstring. I iced when I got home in leu of doing my core workout.

thursday: I walked around town doing some errands. and by that I mean I walked a. long. time. it was probably a few miles all in all.

friday: the day kind of slipped away from me without a workout. we'll just count it as a rest day.

saturday: twelve mile long run. and yes, it was outside. thank goodness! my left arch felt a little weird for the first few miles again, but then it felt normal. my right hamstring is bugging me a little bit. the legs were getting pretty tight by the end. to be honest, I didn't take an ice bath or even ice at all afterward. I ate and then jumped into a warm shower. my legs are a little tight today.

10 on the tready, does not a fun run make

I did buy shoes on friday, but didn't have time to make it to the gym. so I decided I would wear my new shoes on the long run (which isn't necessarily a smart idea) to avoid having to wear the old ones (I think they were doing more harm than good).

driving to the gym broke my heart. it was such. a. beautiful. day. I was jealous of every runner I passed. but I didn't want to get the new shoes dirty--just in case. and if I was starting to get blisters or anything weird, I wanted my old shoes at the ready. so the treadmill seemed like the best option.

I pretty much wanted to kill myself the whole time. I really don't understand the people who love to run on these things. (like my friend scotty who trained for the salt lake city marathon purely on a tready and then went to rock the marathon like it was nothing) I'll take a cold day on the streets in january over that anytime.

I didn't get any blisters. my left arch felt a little weird for the first mile or so, but then that subsided. my IT bands would flare, but I kept stretching about every two miles. so far so good in the new shoes.

10 miles

new year

I swear I've been running.  at least somewhat, anyway.

the weekend after the worst long run in my life, I didn't run.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I needed a break.  

the next week I ran a couple four mile runs, I think.  

that weekend I pulled out a twelve miler.

the following week was christmas, I think, and I did a few four mile runs again.

last weekend I only did an eight mile long run.

monday I went on a baby snowshoe hike

tuesday I went cross country skiing

wednesday I really only went ice skating

yesterday I ran a four miler

today I will hopefully make it to the gym to do the elliptical...  

I need to buy some new running shoes sometime before salt lake running co. closes tonight.  let's be honest, I should've gotten new shoes a long time ago.  I am in serious need. 

tomorrow I hope to get a ten miler in, wish me luck.

yeah, so...

here is another update:

friday -- I'm pretty sure I took this as a rest day. I was going to try and at least get my core workout in, but didn't really remember that until I was drifting off to sleep that night. whoops!

saturday -- the worst long run of my life. or, the one in which anna falls. okay, so seriously I think everything was starting to catch up with me last saturday. I. was. tight. and tired. and fourteen miles? seemed like forever. by the end my little legs were just shuffling along. and within the last 1.5 miles of being done with the whole sordid affair, I tripped. I'm not even sure if I tripped over anything! there's a huge possibility I just didn't pick one of my feet up off the ground! I took a tumble right there on the sidewalk and scuffed up my hands and my right knee. and my shoulder and hip were sore afterwards too. the fall seemed to happen in slow motion, but my muscles were so tight I had no control, of them, of the situation. it definitely humbled me.

monday -- four miles + core

tuesday -- five miles

wednesday -- swimteam
500 warmup
6 X 50 drill
3 X 100 {slow, medium, fast}
200
3 X 100 build
300
3 X 100 {slow, medium, fast}
cooldown

thursday -- three miles + core

14 on the schedule, 26.2 under foot: the valley of fire marathon race report

I've only really done it once before; run a marathon without actually training for it.

sometime the week before the race I had the crazy idea. why not just do it? my game plan: run it slow and not care about anything. it was a training run with a little bit extra thrown in for good measure. it was another state. no big deal, right?

it's funny how the experience is completely different when you've put in months and months of work specifically for one race. the anticipation. the excitement. the dread. you dream of doing amazing things; of PR's, of BQ's. this was not that. the fact that I was just about to run 26.2 miles without putting in that work didn't even sink in until about one minute before the gun went off. I freaked out slightly then, but quickly composed myself and joined the crowd. I was going to run a marathon without training. I have done it before, I could do it again.

the valley of fire marathon isn't exactly for the faint of heart. it's a small race and a hard course. in fact, they don't even claim you'll PR.

right there situated in mile one is a big, huge, fatty hill. and after that? more hills. the whole course was a series of rollers. some steep, some not as steep. oh, and did I mention that the course was comprised of two out and backs? so every hill you conquered, on the way down all you could think about was running back UP on the return trip. see why it's not a PR course? it was just plain hard. but it was so beautiful it kind of took your mind off the hills. at least a little bit. {if you've never been to the valley of fire state park, you should take a trip out there someday. it turns out november is the perfect time to do it. I couldn't have asked for better weather. especially for running.}

I stuck to my game-plan and just took things as they came. I told myself I was allowed to walk any hills to save the legs. I felt surprisingly good throughout the whole run. I ended up walking the steep hills, but mostly trudging up the others. I never felt the need to walk because I just wanted to give up and quit (like in fargo); I was just out there havin' a good time.

I tried to break the run up into sections in my mind. the distance seemed easier to tackle that way. if I can just get to the first turn-around... once I get to the half marathon split... when I get to mile 20, I'll just have a 10K left... I knew that if I could get to mile 20.5--the second turn-around--I would make it. it was a steady climb up until that point, and I knew that the last 10K would be all downhill. I'm not sure I could have made it otherwise.

I was getting tight, but was still able to keep running at a pretty good pace. I was passing people. I just had to keep my feet moving. and the miles flew slowly by.

I'm not sure I'd recommend this race. as is, I'd say run the half. that's definitely the prettiest part of the course. if you're not looking for a fast time or a lot of crowd support, and maybe if they improved a few things, then I'd say go for the full. for starters if you say you're going to have gatorade {and then say a few days before you're going to have heed instead} you should have at least some sort of sports drink on the course. there was nothing for the first half of the marathon. the second half did have the heed, but I had never even heard of that stuff let alone used it in training. yikes! and definitely put out better mile markers. yeah, there were some out there (and I loved the corresponding american flag set out by each of them. very patriotic.) but I never really seemed to know quite where I was. a little frustrating, but maybe in this case it was a good thing. and if you talk to peter {this is his biggest pet peeves in race organization} have better traffic control. he saw people almost get hit by cars at the finish line area. and it's always scary as you're running on the shoulder of the road and there are big motor homes and cars passing in both directions at the same time. yikes! at least close one lane of traffic and dedicate it to runners!

but with all that being said, it was a beautiful course and I really did have a fun time running it. especially since I can say that I did it without training. after the race I was hanging around the food table {by the way, they did have donuts not only at the end but at aid stations as well. if only I could have better taken advantage of that!} talking to other runners. some guys--now these are guys that had run 60+ and 100+ marathons. experts, if you will--were saying this was one of the hardest courses they've ever run. {I agree; it was akin to the lake tahoe marathon} that you need to take your normal finishing time and add one hour to it, then you will have your valley of fire marathon finish time. I kinda liked that. with their logic if you take my 4:40:55 and run it through the reverse of that idea, I'd have a 3:40:55 boston qualifying time. I'll take it!

top left: look! a tarantula! posing mid-race for a photo shoot with a spider
top right: running through the redrock formations
bottom right: the hardware

post marathon long run

okay, I'm still working on the race report. be patient.

here is the status of my calf: I took a rest day and all is well. I think I just had a really tight knot or something.

BUT I went running on thanksgiving morning with peter {I tried to tell him that since we went running that morning that gave us a "free pass" and we could eat anything we wanted. yeah, he didn't so much buy it.} and was having some serious issues with my left hamstring. yeah, I know. is the pain just traveling up my leg or what? so I took friday off too.

saturday I just jumped right back into my training plan. it was a lower mileage week anyway, so it was perfect for the post marathon legs. actually, can I tell you how easy my recovery has been? I wasn't too incredibly sore the following days after the race {like I didn't feel that my knees were on backwards, or I couldn't go down stairs without holding onto the rail and wincing in pain} and it was really easy to get back into running again. well, with only a few minor aches and pains.

yesterday's long run wasn't that bad, though my legs were feeling pretty tight by the end. I just need to go see my massage chica, I think. and I only had random aches and pains that didn't stick with me through the whole run. success!

10.5 miles

update

okay, I've been kind of a slacker and haven't been updating the blog after each workout... let's see what I can remember...

w: just my core workout, I think.

h: 4 miles. maybe. I'm pretty sure.

f: 45 minutes on the elliptical.

s: 12 miles. my ankle didn't hurt. my legs felt a little tight overall, but nothing major. my right hamstring has been bugging me a little bit since, though.

m: 3.5 miles + the core workout. I made sure I iced the hamstrings afterward.

long run + m + t

the weekend long run. ten miles again. I felt pretty good, actually. things of note: ankle pain came and went; pain on the inside of the left knee made a brief appearance. overall it was okay. I think my body is adjusting to a training regimine again. I am glad I put the one long uphill stretch in the middle of the run instead of the end of the run as I had originally planned. smart move on my part.

10 miles



monday: the rain came and went all day. I was busy all morning with errands, et cetera. by the time I got around to the run, the rain wasn't bad and it was getting dark quicker than expected. I was feeling surprisingly good. I ran it at a pretty good pace--it felt like anyway; who knows what pace it actually was--and my hamstrings didn't even feel that tight.

4 miles + core workout



tuesday: I did a pretty mellow recovery run.

3.5 miles

the rest

tuesday: I think I just walked for about 3'ish miles. (that is walking to/from work)

wednesday: did the sugarhouse perimeter loop again. so it's about 3.5 miles, I think.

thursday: walked around again, about fifty miles (or so it felt like--I walked home from work + walked to the DI to run some last minute halloween errands)

friday: took a nice long nap after work. totally took a holiday rest day.

saturday: long run. 8 miles. my legs felt tight. my ankle was feeling it for the first mile. then it subsided. then I would feel some discomfort on and off throughout the run. by the end of the run I was feeling pretty strong, though.

saturday's long run

I decided to kick my butt into gear. since I totally flaked out on training for the valley of fire marathon in november, I wanted to really set my sights on something else. and actually train.

I found the sedona marathon a couple months ago. it's in february. last year's race day landed on my birthday. too bad I didn't know about it then. oh well. but I figure I have plenty of time to train for it. I'm not going for a BQ or anything, the course seems too challenging for it anyway. so I'm just going to run it for the fun of running + another state. love it.

so with that in my mind I ran my first long run on saturday. I wasn't even planning on it. but sometime in the mid-morning I just decided to. I put on my gear and went out the door. I didn't have a plan for the route, or the mileage. I just stuck a gu in my back pocket and decided I'd take it if I needed it.

I ended up doing a park to park route. I headed over to some familiar ground: 17th south/liberty park. I ran around the perimeter and took the gu just as I was passing the drinking fountain again to leave the park. that was around 4 of 5 miles. then I ran up and over to sugarhouse park. and ran around the perimeter of that park. then home.

after the run I looked up my route on map my run. I figured it was around 8 miles. actually, it was 10. I don't know if I really needed a ten mile run to start off my training. I probably over did it. I hope my ankle doesn't blow up because of it. but oh well. it was so nice to be out there for an extended period of time. it was such a beautiful day.

my ankle has been feelin' it a bit, but not too bad. we'll go forward from here and see how things hold up.

eight miles

I took it to the streets yesterday. I did my long run via the baby pug tree route. I felt pretty good. my ankle was feeling okay, my muscles were feeling okay. the weird thing was that I couldn't breathe. not in the I-have-asthma-and-will-surely-die sort of way. more the my-sinuses-must-be-clogged-and-my body-isn't-getting-the-quality-oxygen-it-desires. it felt like my whole upper body was sleepy. like I really wasn't getting enough oxygen to my blood or something. and my right ear felt a little foggy as well. kind of like that feeling of water stuck in your ear after you swim. sort of. I need to neti pot. maybe I'll go do that right now...

8 miles

in training

I had my first "long run" this morning. it wasn't very long. just four miles. but I'm going to ease back into things slowly in light of my recent (and recent being last spring) injury and lack of running as of late. so over the next few weeks I'll do some 4's, 6's, 8's before hitting up any double-digit runs.

my ankle/heal was hurting slightly in the beginning. I was running up a hill, which might be partly to blame for this whole mess anyway. (that's just a theory) my body felt tight and slow. my shoulders/arms wouldn't relax--they were sore from carrying a giant tube up along side a river all day.

I came home and stretched, rolled out the muscles, but no ice. I probably should've iced the ankle/heal. oh well.

4 miles

nineteen

I ran my long run today because my friend, scotty, is running the salt lake city marathon tomorrow and we need to be his cheering section. {he's trained for this thing solely on a treadmill. I can't even imagine.} I mean, the race route goes right by my house, so why not?

so today's run didn't really feel that great. which is okay. I felt pretty sick when I went to bed last night. like I was going to puke or something, and was scared I'd actually be sick and running wouldn't seem so appealing. I felt relatively fine this morning, though. so that's good.

I felt tight in the early miles. I loosened up midway through. by mile 10 or so I started getting tight again. if you look at the elevation profile I was running uphill for a few miles. it felt like I was just crawling up that last push. but it probably wasn't really that slow. maybe just kinda slow.

the way down that hill (that very little steep section--it was only about a block, really) kinda pounded my legs.

my left foot really started to hurt. hopefully that is a pain that does not linger with me for any amount of time.

I had salty face. it started getting in my eyes near the end. I usually wear my visor, which helps soak the sweat up. but I did wear shorts and I had no problem with the chub rub. thank you, bodyglide! though the past couple runs the bodyglide on my feet doesn't feel like it's been working like it used to. no actual blisters yet, but I feel hot spots forming. no beuno.

I am glad the long run is done and out of the way. I can enjoy the rest of the weekend! yesterday it was one month exactly to the big day. next week is my longest run. then I'll taper and hopefully be ready for the journey ahead. hopefully I'm physically and mentally ready for the challenge at hand.

19 miles; 6th east/south temple/11th east/21st south/wasatch dr

eighteen

I made myself a little route on friday night. I got pretty into it because after I printed out the map (below) I wrote out where my aid stations were going to be (aka which street corners I would stash my little water bottles) and where my turnaround point was, et cetera. I even placed my little gu's on the appropriate mile markers. I thought it was really cute. pete didn't seem to appreciate it as much.


on saturday morning, after driving the course and placing all my baby waters and poweraids, I set off on my little eighteen miler. the first half mile my legs felt a bit like dead weight. by my first aid station (mile two) I had loosened up quite a bit. most of the run put me snaking through the avenues. and if you know the avenues, you know that it's always a hilly run. I was either going uphill or coming downhill. not much in the way of just flat.

but I ran through it all and kept a good pace. my legs started getting pretty tight around mile 14 or so, but it wasn't enough to make me want to stop running. I still felt strong. strong enough to run through any discomfort I was feeling. strong enough that when it was all over I still felt that if I had had to, I could've pulled another two miles. that's a good place to be mentally.

oh, and the weather was beautiful. just perfect for a saturday morning long run.

{p.s. if you want to analyze the bizarre dream I had before waking up and going running, go HERE. it involves qualifying for boston and cleaning tomkat's toilet. you could even win a prize.}

18 miles; avenues

thirteen point one: provo city half marathon

ah yes, the provo city half marathon. I'm not sure I'd really recommend it to anyone. I mean, it wasn't really that bad. and it was the inaugural running of the race. so they still have time to work out the kinks. but it really wasn't that great, either.

basically I felt the mile markers were a little off--if they even had mile markers at all. oh, and they said aid stations at mile 2, 6, 8, 10, 12 but seemed to have them in random places. so I'd get to one and have to wonder what mile I was actually at. as a runner, it's pretty important to know where you are during the race, if only for the mental game and your sanity.

the run along the provo river was pretty nice. until you got out by utah lake. wind. wind. wind. with nothing to block it. yikes! that was a tough spot in the race for me. strong headwind equals a not so fast and a slightly more tired anna jo. it could've been worse, though, I guess. it could've been raining and a strong headwind. let's all be grateful the weather held this morning.*

okay, back to business. though I didn't love the course, this race was actually pretty good for me. I told peter before I started that this was my game plan: relax. and cruise. yesterday I had made three goals for how I wanted the run to turn out. you know, the super awesome goal time I'd be totally stoked on, the good goal time I'd be totally happy with, and the everything-went-wrong-but-I'll-take-it goal time. they were respectively: 1:40, 1:50 and 2:00.

I'm happy to report that I made it directly in between my first and second goal times. 1:45. I couldn't be happier with it. this has definitely been a confidence booster on this whole road to boston thing. I mean, I am on track to actually being able to keep the pace I'll need to qualify! it could be a reality if everything goes alright on race day. and that makes me happy.

if I remember correctly, I came in 63rd overall and 16th for females. something like that. who knows.

one thing I will say for this race was that it probably closely resembles conditions I might be facing in north dakota. a mostly flat course with wind and chillier temps. (I'm praying for chillier temps! if they have some sort of freak heat wave on may 17th that will totally be uncool. no pun intended.) let's just hope that I don't have to run over any overpasses. I was not expecting it, and my heart sank when I realized I had to run up and over it.

oh, and one more thing I will say about this race was that the tech tees were pretty cute!


* so yesterday afternoon someone told me it was supposed to rain all morning. maybe even snow. yep, all the weather reports confirmed it. so can you imagine how hard it was to dress for the run?! I think peter was thoroughly annoyed by all my questions and indecision. I just didn't want to be overdressed and I didn't want to be underdressed. that's a tight line to tow. but don't worry, the weather abated (except for the wind) and nothing ever really came down on us. my outfit decision turned out okay in the end as well. except for pete's watch. remind me never to wear a huge man-watch in a race if I have not trained with it for a while. I was not used to the weight and it started making my whole arm hurt! so I took it off about mile three and stashed it in the vest pocket where it proceeded to bounce around for ten more miles. annoying!

sixteen

my long run yesterday was good. I felt strong.

going into it I wasn't sure what the weather would bring. they had been forecasting snow and/or showers all week. not something I necessarily want to run in, but will run in if needs be. the only problem was I didn't quite know how to dress for the run. it had currently been clear with temps in the low forties. would that hold? would I be out there when things changed suddenly and drastically?

I had thought about doing the baby pug tree run for that reason. if things turned for the worse I could run home and put on some additional layers, or change out of wet ones. but I didn't really want to do the baby pug tree. I am a little over it.

peter generously offered to go place some water bottles out for me. just like last week I did the 14 miler zoo/wasatch run. I just added two extra miles in the beginning to make it 16 miles total. I did a quick western run of the baby pug tree and then was off on the rest of the run.

can I just tell you how much better I felt at each point of the run over last week? and that was with two additional miles already under my feet! I didn't really start getting tight until about mile 12 or so. this is a good sign.

I felt strong.

pete rode the course on his bike and dropped off the water bottles in our designated spots. I met him soon after he had turned around. he was surprised I was already to that point; I must have been cruising! also, my outfit choice was perfect, just in case you were wondering. and I know you were. layered long sleeve tee's with my vest, tights, beanie, snot-gloves. I'm so glad I opted for the vest because it gave me a place to stash the beanie and gloves when I didn't need them. there were a few times where I had to pull them out of the pockets because it got windy and the temps dropped. thankfully no rain or snow. just a fierce headwind for the last three-fourths of the run.

I'm feeling good about where things are right now and where they are going. I am so much farther along than I was last year at this time. cramming in my training after an injury is no fun and really affects your body. I'm so glad that this year I have remained relatively injury free--just those chronic annoyances--and have had time to get that solid base under me. this year should prove drastically different from last years marathon. and I'm so excited to see it all play out.

16 miles; baby pug tree west, zoo/wasatch